Firecracker-gun



M. J UFFDRD.

FIRECRACKH? GUN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5.1919.

1 27,747 Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

' giEETS-SHEET I- anvemtoz i I MLZ Vf orai M. J. UFFURD.

FIRECRACKER GUN.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5. 1919.

Patented Jan. 13, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

auue/nto'n fitter "Mg MORRELL J. UFFORD, (1F KANSAS, ILLINOIS.

. I'mEcEAcKER-etrn.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, MORRELL J. Urrom), a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas, in the county of Edgar and State of Illinois, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Firecracker-Guns, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawhis invention relates to toy firearms, and more particularly to toys designed to simulate a rapid fire gun-and designed for the firing of fire crackers.

The general object of the invention is the provision of a toy of this character which is very simple in construction and easy of operation, and in which the fire crackers are fed one by one from a hopper and carried to a firing chamber where they are .exploded.

A further object is to provide a firing chamber with swinging side walls so that when the explosion takes place, these side walls will be projected with considerable force against stop fins mounted upon the body of the gun, thus increasing the noise produced by the explosion of the fire crackers.

A further object is to provide very simple means for carrying a single cracker from the feeding hopper of the gun into the firing chamber, and in this connection to provide means for igniting the fire cracker during its passage from the .hopper into the firing chamber. Other objects w1ll appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of my fire cracker gun; v

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary t0p plan view, the

feeding hopper being in section;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4'of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5' is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. I

Referring to, these drawings, it will be seen that my toy gun comprises a body 10 having a barrel 11 projecting therefrom, and a tripod 12 upon which the body is preferably rotatably mounted. :The \lower vextremities of the tripod limbs are provided with. flanges or feet through which screws may be passed in order to attach the tri- Speoiflcation of Letters Patent. Patented J an, 13, 1920, Application filed June 5, 1919. Serial No. 301,956.

pod to a wagon, platform, or other desired support.

which is formed by an inclined pan 15 and the sides 16 of which are formed of metal,

pivoted at their upper edges soas to swin outwardly in the body 10. Coil springs 1? may surround the'pintles of these hanging. walls 16 so as to yieldingly resist any out ward movement of these hanging walls.- When a cracker is exploded upon the pan '15, these walls will be blown laterally outward and will crash against fins or other abutments 18 projecting inward from the side walls of the body 10. I

For the purpose of conveying a fire cracker from the feeding hopper to the firing pan, and the same time cutting off all communication between the feeding hop or to the firing pan at the time the crac er is being fired, and further provide means for lightmg the fire cracker as it passes from the feeding hopper into the firing pan, I provide within the firing chamber a roller 19, the shaft 20 of which projects out through the body and is provided with a crank 21, this roller at one or more points on its periphery being formed with a groove 22 adapted to receive the cracker through an opening 23 formed in the casing wall, and

.carry this cracker downward to the firing pan, the cracker being held in. place, in the guides, if the hopper is in circular form, be-

ing disposed concentric to each other and I one set of guides being spaced from the other set of guides a distance slightly greater than the diameter of a fire cracker, and the hopper, of course, having a length approximately that of a fire cracker. This hopper may have imperforate walls or be of skeleton formation as desired. Under any circumstances. however, one side of the hopper or guide will be open and. for the purpose of feeding the fire crackers along this hopper or guide, I provide a follower 26 which I the opening 23.

have illustrated as being mounted upon an arm 27, this arm in turn being pivoted at 28 to any suitable support, as for instance, a

bracket extending from the side wall of the or burner having a flame, and the flamev of this candle or other burner is disposed in such position that as the roller 19 moves from its receiving position to its discharging position, the fuse of the cracker will be carried through the flame, thus igniting the fuse. The roller is operated, of course, at such a speed as to makecertain an ignition of the fuse.

The operation of the invention will be obvious from what has gone before. The crackers A are disposed in the hop er or guide and the candle or other burnerhghted. Then the roller is rotated by means of the .crank 21 and one by one the crackers are harried by the roller from the receiving opening 23, past the candle, the fuse a ignited, and then the cracker is dlscharged onto the firing pan and then explodes, blow ing the wings on side walls 16 outward and causing them to clash against the side wall of the body, thus adding to the noise produced by the exploding cracker. The legs of the tripod, as before remarked, are provided with feet whereby the tripod may be attached to a toy wagon or to any other platform and fastened firmly in place. It is obviousthat the device may be made. in various sizes to accommodate various sizes of crackers, and itwill also be obvious that the device may be made very cheaply of sheet metal or may be made of cast metal, or of wood and metal, and that it may be formed so as to simulate very closely a rapid fire gun. It is to be particularly noted that the roller 19 performs three functions, that it acts as a means for conveying the crackers one by one from the hopper to the firing chamber, that it forms means for. separating the firing chamber from the hopper so as to prevent the ignition of any crackers within the hopper by the discharge of the cracker in the firing chamber, and further it provides means for carrying the fuse of the cracker past an igniting member.

It will be noted from Fig. 5 that the support 30 is a housing which is supported upon the side of the body 10 preferably at the junction of the guideway or hopper 25 with the housing, as at this point the fire ing that it might not ignite. Of course. it

will be understood that the body of this device is preferably releasable from the tripod sothatthe gun proper may be connected with any suitable support. The burnt crackers are discharged from the inclined pan 15 through an opening in the rear end of the casing 10, if desired.

I do not wish to be limited to the particular form of the hopper, nor to the particular means for urging the crackers along the hopper, as it is obvious that a hopper might be provided in which the crackers were fed by gravity to the operating roller.

1. A fire cracker gun of the character described comprising a body having a firing chamber, a hopper conveying the fire crackers to an opening in the body, and igniting means mounted on the body, means for carrying the fire crackers one by one from the discharge end of the hopper into the firing chamber, and passing the fuse of the fire crackers through the igniting means.

2. In a toy fire cracker gun, a body having a. barrel, the body being formed with av firing chamber having hinged walls adapted to be blown apart by the explosion of a cracker.v

3. In a toy fire cracker gun, a body having a barrel, the body being formed with a firing chamber having-hinged walls adapted to be blown apart by the explosion of a; cracker, and members projecting inward from the side walls of the body and against which said side walls of the firing chamber will strike when the fire cracker is exploded.

4. A fire cracker gun including a body having a firing chamber, a hopper discharging into the body above the firing chamber, and a rotatable member mounted within the body and having a groove adapted to receive the fire cracker and convey it from the hopper to said chamber, and meansdisposed in the path of movement of the cracker for igniting the fuse thereof.

A fire cracker gun including a body formed with a firing chamber, means for supporting an igniting flame within the body, and means for moving the fire crackers one by one from a receiving point to said firing chamber, and carrying the fuses of said fire crackers through said flame.

6. A toy gun of the character described including a body having a firing chamber,

a hopper discharging into the body at a point remote from the firing chamber, a

roller having a groove adapted to receive v fire crackers one by one, the rotation of the roller carrying. each fire cracker from the hopper to the firing chamber and dropping it thereinto, and an igniting flame disposed in the path of movement of the fire cracker and adapted to ignite the fuse thereof prior to the cracker being received within the firing chamber.

7. A firecracker gun of the character described including a body having a firing chamber and a receiving opening, a pair of arcuate guides extending from the receiving opening and adapted to receive a series of fire crackers, a follower urging said fire crackers toward the opening in the body, a roller mounted within the body and having a longitudinally extending groove adapted to register with the receiving opening as the roller is rotated to thereby carry the fire crackers from the hopper to the firing chamber,- and an igniting element disposed in the path of movement of the fire crackers and adapted to ignite the fuses thereof.

8. A fire cracker gun of the character de- 4 scribed including a body having a firing chamber and a receiving openlng, a pair of arcuate guides extending from the receiving opening and adapted to receive a series of fire crackers, a follower urging said fire crackers toward the opening in the body,

said follower being disposed between the' guides and having a radially extending arm to carry the follower between the guides, and a springurging said arm to carry the follower toward the receiving opening of the body, a roller mounted Within the body and having a longitudinally extending groove adapted to register with the receiving opening as the roller is rotated to thereby carry the fire crackers from the hopper to the firing chamber, and an igniting element disposed in the path of movement of the fire crackers and adapted to ignite the fuses 4 ing a rotatable body forming one wall of thefiring chamber and having a longitudinally extending groove therein to receive a fire cracker. v

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses. MORRE-LL J. UFFORD. Witnesses:

C. H. BANE, J. E. Frame. 

